Live Video: Kishi Bashi

As Kaoru Ishibashi himself admits, a year ago no one knew who he was. Now, with his musical project Kishi Bashi, he’s selling out shows with his intricate and ecstatic performances. Inspired by as much by free jazz as bluegrass, hip-hop, and classical music, Kishi Bashi’s baroque indie pop easily draws comparisons to other loop pedal maestros like Andrew Bird and Joseph Arthur, and can sound like The Shins on acid. In fact, during his live session during our CMJ broadcast last year, Kishi Bashi even covered The Shins’ “Kissing the Lipless.” Last week, before a sold out show at The Crocodile in Seattle, Kishi Bashi with friends Elizabeth Ziman (Elizabeth and the Catapult) on drums and keys, and Mike Savino (Tall Tall Trees) on “Space Banjo”, played a dizzying set live in the KEXP studio. Check out the session here: